Order NFIU to reverse directive, govs tell Buhari – TheNigerialawyer

Governors across the 36 states have asked President Muhammadu
Buhari to direct the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit to reverse
its directive that states should not tamper with funds meant for
local government areas from the federation accounts.

The directive, according to the NFIU, takes effect on June 1
(today).

The NFIU had on May 6, 2019 issued the ‘Guidelines to Reduce
Vulnerabilities Created by Cash Withdrawals from Local Government
Funds throughout Nigeria’ which barred governors from tampering
with funds meant for local government areas.

But the governors, under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors
Forum, in a protest letter to the President on May 19, 2019, argued
that nothing in the NFIU Act 2018 gives the agency the power to
give such a directive.

In the letter, which was exclusively obtained by Saturday PUNCH
on Friday, the governors called on the President to call the
Director of the NFIU, Modibbo Hamman-Tukur, to order.

The letter was titled, ‘Re: NFIU enforcement and guidelines to
reduce crime vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawal from local
government funds throughout Nigeria, effective June 1, 2019’

The letter, signed by Abdulaziz Yari, the immediate past
chairman of the forum, partly read, “The NGF wishes to express its
dismay and angst at the attempt to ridicule our collective
integrity and show total disregard to the constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended.”

Citing Sections 7 (6) (a) and (b); sections 162 (6), (7) and
(8), the NGF contended that the constitution expressly confers on
only the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly the
powers to make provisions for statutory allocation of public
revenue to the local councils in the federation.

“Section 162 (6), the constitution expressly provides for the
creation of the State Joint Local Government Account into which
shall be paid all allocations to the Local Government Councils of
the state from the federation account and from the government of
the state,” it added.

“Nothing in the NFIU Act 2018 gives the NFIU the powers that it
seeks to exercise in the recently released guidelines, and in doing
this, the unit has acted in excess of its powers in complete
disregard to the constitution of the country.”

They added, “Finally, Mr President may recall the role played by
the governors in getting the country out of recession and our
contributions in strengthening the democratic experience in
Nigeria.

“The NGF identifies with Mr President’s efforts to combat
corruption, money laundering and terrorism amongst other social
ills and will use our best endeavours in ensuring that our
financial system is preserved through our concerted and individual
efforts at fighting these ills.

“However, due process and constitutionalism are major planks in
our journey to sustainable democracy and we appeal to Mr President
to direct that the said guidelines be disregarded in view of its
unconstitutionality and total disregard for due process.”

Meanwhile, the NFIU has insisted that it will commence the
enforcement of the directive today, while warning banks to ensure
the full implementation of the guidelines with effect from June 1,
2019 or risk sanctions.

NFIU’s position was further bolstered on Friday when the Federal
High Court sitting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, declined
the request by the state government for an order to restrain the
agency from enforcing the said guidelines.

Justice A. A. Okeke, presided over the suit with file number:
FHC/UY/CS/88/2019, brought before him by the state government and
all local government areas in the state, represented by the
Attorney General of the state, Uwem Nwoko SAN.

After listening to submissions by the plaintiffs and the
respondent, counsel for the NFIU, Arthur Obi-Okafor, SAN,
challenged the plaintiffs’ locus standi and urged the court to
ignore their prayers, describing the plaintiffs as nothing but
“busy bodies.”

Obi-Okafor informed the court that the matter was of grave
national security concern, nothing that the urgency raised by the
plaintiffs was self-induced because NFIU guidelines were released
on May 1, 2019.

The court therefore adjourned the matter to June 21, 2019 to
hear all pending applications while declining to issue any
restraining order.

A source privy to the decision of the agency told our Saturday
PUNCH on the condition of anonymity that the NFIU would begin the
enforcement as planned.

“What would have been a hurdle has been taken care of by the
Federal High Court sitting in Uyo,” the source said

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